own drone zdnet
MIT lets you design your own drones ZDNet
MIT researchers have unveiled a new way for consumers and businesses to take to the skies -- by designing and developing their own drones. The program, created by a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), is a prototype computer system (.PDF) which allows users to create a variety of drones. According to the lab, users can design, simulate and build custom drones, altering the size, shape, and structure depending on how they want their drones fabricated and their purpose -- which impacts on factors including payload tolerance, flight time, and battery life. To demonstrate the system, CSAIL created a range of unusual drones, including a five-rotor "pentacopter" and a rabbit-shaped "bunnycopter." MIT says the program could pave the way for businesses and consumers to develop new drones able to perform a wider variety of functions.